6 practices to help smooth out rough spotsAfter starting from scratch last spring, then nearly starting from scratch again when fall preseason practice began a couple of weeks ago, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys have six practices in one week to get ready for their season opener at Northwestern Oklahoma. First-year head coach Raymond Monica said there were too many penalties in Tech’s first scrimmage, and several more flags flew Tuesday night at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. Offensiv...

Getting ahead on the backs of othersHaving been raised in a small-business family and now running my own small outfit, I always find it heartwarming to see hardworking, enterprising folks get ahead. So I was really touched when I read that, even in these hard times, one extended family with three generations active in their enterprise is hanging in there and doing well. Christy, Jim, Alice, Robbie, Ann and Nancy are their names — and with good luck and old-fashioned pluck, they ...

Without malice, but with charityMy favorite place in Washington is the Lincoln Memorial. Its grand size, pivotal location and sweeping view of our capital city are a backdrop for the inspirational addresses inscribed on its walls. Lincoln’s second inaugural address and his Gettysburg Address are there for all visitors to read. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln’s most well-known speech, he never uses the word “I” or “me;” instead, he focuses on our nation. He closes by askin...

More disclosure would improve campaign financial reportingWinning elections, especially above the local level, is about money — always has been, always will be. For presidential campaigns we’ve experimented with public financing and learned that it doesn’t work for the top candidates. No one bothers to try below that level. Instead, we’ve focused on campaign finance laws with limited success. Our efforts have proven mainly that people with lots of money can buy political influence. The candidates kno...

Being proactive, not reactive to campaign ethicsEthics and politics, ideally, are words that go together. They showed up in the same sentences in stories last week, but in a negative way. Mainly, I refer to the ethical lapses of now-former state Sen. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, which led to embarrassment for him and his party and ultimately his resignation. The episode raised questions about how Bookout got away with what he was doing for so long. A review of his campaign finance reports sho...

What really makes Hillary Clinton runThe mere prospect of Hillary Rodham Clinton running for president again is evidently provoking outrage among old adversaries — from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to Maureen Dowd — whose appetite for bogus “Clinton scandals” will never be sated. With the fizzling of Benghazi after an official State Department probe found no wrongdoing by the former Secretary of State, her critics have moved on, casting a gimlet eye on the charitable foundation bui...

The nature of the Democratic PartyTo determine what the Democratic Party stands for, one must ascertain what it opposes. The father of the Democratic Party was the anti-Federalist and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson. His most noted adversary was the father of the Republican Party, Federalist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was whole-heartedly pro business and big government. His political planks included a national bank, high tariff and internal improvements at national go...

Opener with Ragin’ Cajuns no lock for RazorbacksLITTLE ROCK — Less than a week from Arkansas’ opener, there is a question mark involved for the first time in 11 years. Who wins? The Razorbacks were the clear choice vs. Tulsa, New Mexico State, Missouri State, Troy, Western Illinois, Tennessee Tech, and Jacksonville State. Picking USC over Arkansas in 2006 was equally easy. The Trojans had routed Arkansas in Los Angeles the previous year, knocking out 246 yards on their first eight plays and...

What we can learn from the DuggarsWho would have thought that a TV show about a guy named “Jim Bob” with 19 kids would make Arkansas look good? But that’s been the case with “19 Kids and Counting,” the TLC show about the daily lives of the Duggars of Springdale: Jim Bob, Michelle, Josh, Jana, and 17 other “J’s,” plus Josh’s wife Anna and their three children. This is not the modern day version of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” The family was prosperous before it got its own show a...

Highway 101 is that good and moreDuring the recent Highway 101 performance at the Ozark Folk Center at Mountain View, I whispered to my wife what may well have been the understatement of the decade. Folks, I’ve been privileged to have covered more concerts this summer than I can remember in a relatively short time. Most were good. A few I would call “great.” Maybe one or two I would call “mediocre.” That gets me to Highway 101, and while I’ve been a writer for more years than...

You’re in big trouble, Espn Turbo SmithIt took me days to name my children. People would harass me in the hospital, noting I would not be allowed to leave until the Social Security forms were completed with the baby’s full name entered in the appropriate spaces. However, I took the naming part of my job as a new parent very seriously. I refused to be bullied into making the wrong decision. In the hospital nurseries, my boys were easy to find. Their bassinets were labeled “Baby Boy,...

Pies for pavementFood says a lot about who we are and where we’ve been. And if you’re a regular reader of this column, you know I often talk about how stories are passed down in families and communities. In many ways food and stories are inseparable. And in this region marked by the foothills of the Ozarks, the edges of the Ouachita Mountains, and the banks in the River Valley, we really like to make pies. And these pies don’t come out of nowhere. They’re ofte...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Bookout’s resignation a stunning fallLITTLE ROCK — Paul Bookout’s resignation from the state Senate over a panel’s ruling that he used campaign funds to purchase personal items marks a stunning fall for a lawmaker who had promised to follow his late father’s example by working with both parties. It also creates a renewed focus on campaign finance and ethics issues that could pose problems for both Democrats and Republicans as they gear up for next year’s election. Bookout resigne...

Human trafficking draws tough stanceLITTLE ROCK — Thirty-nine states, including Arkansas, passed legislation against human trafficking this year. The legislation cleared both houses of the Arkansas Legislature unanimously — an indication of the universal urgency to find solutions. Even more notable at home is the toughness of Arkansas’s law. With its enactment of our new law, Arkansas strengthened its stance against human trafficking more than any other state, according to the W...

Lunch with Senator BoozmanIt’s the noon hour on a Thursday, and Sen. John Boozman, R.-Ark., arrives for an interview at a downtown Little Rock restaurant. He takes a look at the offerings on a chalkboard menu and orders a grilled cheese. The interview lasts an hour and is based on a tough premise: Things look bad. The country is sinking ever deeper in debt at the same time that Congress and the White House have become incapable of addressing problems. Must the country ...

Letters to the editor (Aug. 23 2013)Thanks for helping, supporting Zola On Aug. 10, 2013, a benefit was held in honor of Zola Prati at the VFW in Russellville. Zola is 21 months old and has recently undergone a life-saving liver transplant due to a rare form of liver cancer called hepatoblastoma. This type of cancer occurs in 1.6 of every million children per year. There are only 50 to 70 new cases reported per year in the U.S. After several rounds of chemo, Zola received a new ...

Seeing God’s unconditional loveTo use the phrase: “God’s unconditional love,” is to utter a wonderful fact about God’s nature. He loves because He chooses to love and for no other reason. His love is not dependent upon finding something in us that merits His love. His love is without conditions — it is unconditional. It says in 1 John 4:10 that “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s love was...

Dishonor or adorn, it’s your choiceThe book of Titus is about leadership and it’s about education. It also gives some insight into the importance of the family. Titus 2 points out the importance of our behavior to how the gospel message is received. It is likely that we Christians will have to bear some of the blame for unbelievers rejecting the gospel message. In the midst of the discipleship instructions given in Titus 2, this passage states in two places that the world’s per...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Flocabulary responseWhat I am going to share in this column can best be described as “the big city has come to the country, and at least some in the country don’t like it.” And I might say up front, that I am one of them. A few weeks ago I got an email from Jason Gilmore, senior auditor of the Defense Contract Audit Agency branch office in Fort Walton Beach. This is a branch of the federal government, and I am sure what he had to say was troubling. First, please ...

Good thing husband can cook — I can’tMy husband does most of the cooking around my house. He is a better cook than me. Sure, I have a few recipes that are absolutely delicious that I can make with my eyes closed. I am a hit at potlucks. However, for the day-to-day meal planning, I am lost. Being able to plan and shop for meals for a whole week at a time is not a skill I possess. How on earth am I supposed to know on Sunday what sounds good for dinner Tuesday? Thankfully, I don’t ...